This invention relates to pipe benders, and, in particular, to an angle indicator for a pipe bender which can be mounted to the handle of a pipe bender.
Pipe benders have long been used by electricians to bend piping through which electrical wires pass. Such pipe benders, as is known, include a curved bending head or shoe which receives the pipe to be bent, and a handle which can be grasped by the electrician. To bend the pipe, the electrician simply places the pipe in the head, and pivots the head using the handle to bend the pipe. The pipe is bent around the curvature of the shoe until the desired angle of bend is reached.
When an electrician bends a pipe, he tries to achieve a particular angle, typically 45.degree. or 90.degree.. However, other size angles are often required. If a pipe is not bent to the desired angle (i.e., if the angle is overshot or undershot), then the pipe will not lay were desired, and the pipe may not lay flush against a surface, for example. This can impact wall construction in a building. It is thus desirable to enable electrician to determine as accurately as possible when a desired angle is reached.
Many different angle indicators have been developed. Many are incorporated into the head or shoe of the pipe bender. This obviously requires that a special mold be made for the pipe bender head, and thus increases the cost of the pipe bender. Further, when the angle indicator is built into the head, if the indicator should break, it cannot be replaced without replacing the entire head. For these reasons, pipe bender heads with angle indicators have not been well accepted by the industry.
Other angle indicators have been developed which clip to the handle of the pipe bender. These indicators are large, and thus difficult to use, or electric, and hence expensive.